Sunday, 7 April 2013

Get rid of the baby stuff!

This is not a post about symbolically getting rid of all the baby paraphernalia associated with having a new baby. I haven't actually done that in the years since I realised I would not be having another baby. Never say never eh?

No, this is a post about un-babyfying Elf's bedroom. It started with Mr Humdrum asking me to tidy his room. I must add that I wasn't told in a controlling You Must Do This Housewench kind of way. More of a You Two Are Off On Holiday Still And I'm At Work So Can You Both Tidy Elf's Room.

I decided while Elf was playing computer games (a relatively new thing in the Humdrum Household, which serves to make me realise he is 7), I would tackle the room. It was only covered in dirty clothes that he hadn't put in the washing basket (yes he's 7 not 17) and some bits'n'bobs that were put upstairs when we had a party downstairs.

Elf has an odd room, it's quite small with a cabin bed, book shelves and two chests for clothes, with an inset cupboard at waist-height in the wall. Filled with all sorts, is this Scary Cupboard. Open it, and who knows what might fall out. Indeed I did. Out fell dressing up clothes that I thought we'd lost, baby baths, pram cosies, a Postman Pat train set. A Scary Cupboard indeed.

It was then that I realised I had to totally change his room around. I started on the cupboard. Out came the baby stuff - either car boot or give to a friend who's just had a baby. The Postman Pat train set - I could eBay as it's complete with all figures, yes including Pat, Mrs Goggins, little suitcases and parcels and letters even. And a postvan. Or it could go to the friend who's just had a baby. In went folded up blankets that used to lay on the bed. PE and swimming kits are there now instead of hanging off the bed.

Toys - I took two boxes of "stuff" from the downstairs IKEA toy box storage system upstairs to put under his bed, as the only things he plays with downstairs are Lego and Heroes and Lightsabers/guns!

I cleared enough room to put a little table and stool in the corner, onto which we're going to put our old laptop. He's very chuffed with this!

I cleared some space for those two Star Wars Clone Trooper helmets that seem to take over his den area downstairs. It's also for all of the Star Wars ships that he's made. Some of the kits cost up to £100 and there's no way that Mr Humdrum, I mean Elf, will allow them to be touched or played with, let alone broken up. They need space away.

Books - I moved the books that we used to read to him up to a higher shelf, and put his own books (Beast Quest, Dinosaur Cove, Roald Dahl, Diary of a Wimpy Kid etc) on a lower shelf.

And this was the bit that got me. I realised the top shelf was full of the baby gifts that we'd been generously given upon his birth. A beautiful acrostic poem, a coin presentation set, photos of when we'd brought him home (although I think that photo was staged - we'd already gone inside and then had to go out again for the photo of us in the doorway!).

I moved these things into the spare room "for sorting". Finally at 7 years old, he was to have a boy's room. It's already covered with pictures of Messi and Star Wars. No longer does that have to compete with photos of that gorgeous little bundle of gurgles and soft skin. My baby is indeed much more grown up than I realised.